Are pancakes set to be the next big food trend?

Pancakes are easy to love, because they offer an excuse to eat
cake as the main part of a meal. Although they never really went
out of style, pancakes are currently enjoying a moment in the spotlight, says
Eater's Meghan McCarron, who spies an increase in pancakes on
restaurant menus across the US.

Instagram and other social media seem to be driving this
phenomenon, as gleaming photos featuring stacks of hotcakes,
griddle cakes, and Dutch babies proliferate. This creates cravings
which can only be filled with steaming hot cakes topped with a
dizzying array of syrups, fruits, and even vegetables and sweets.
This demand creates special offerings on menus and even entire
restaurants dedicated to pancakes and their kin.

McCarron views this less as a trend than as a fetish. The
difference, she says, is that trends are "kind of boring" if
you aren't involved in the restaurant world while a fetish
"commands the attention of a much larger portion of the
discourse, including people with somewhat sane relationships to
food." A fetish also contains a bundle of emotional appeal, which
fits nicely with the comfort food factor of
pancakes.

The downside of being a food fetish can mean overpriced fare and
increasingly outlandish ingredients or preparations, says McCarron.
However, she thinks pancakes can stand up to the pressures of
Instagram and remain popular despite some mistreatment at the hands
of chefs seeking a moment in the spotlight alongside their
creations.